The Plan
by myscout14
Summary: While the riders are away, the Outcasts will play. The Outcasts take Berk while all the riders but Hiccup are gone! Toothless and the entire village have been captured, but Hiccup got away. Now it is up to the riders and a newly dragonless Hiccup to save their village, and quite possibly their own lives.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey lovely readers, guess who's back?! That's right, me . Get ready for lots of twists and turns and a special thing, I'll take suggestions as to what y'all want to have happen. For my TMNT lovers, I am working on another story for that as well. I just thought I'd try another fandom while I was at it. If y'all don't like this, feel free to tell me so, and I'll try and fix it. As always, leave a review and keep being awesome my lovely readers! **

Hiccup paced back and forth nervously. A loud roar broke the quiet, and he drew to a halt, and turned to face the sea. He was standing on one of the many cliffs of Berk, overlooking the small town and the sea. The wind whipped around him, and crumbling rocks and dirt periodically fell off the ledge and tumbled into the sheep pasture far below. His long, dark hair whipped around his face, and his usually smiling face was warped into a worried frown. He was alone.

Another roar shook the cliff, and he winced.

"C'mon, guys, where are you?" he muttered, running his hands through his hair.

Suddenly, a speck appeared on the horizon. It hurtled quickly towards the island and began to take shape as it moved closer, far too fast for a boat. It wasn't long until he was able to make out the rough outline of a large, blue, lizard like creature with wings and a spiked tail extending far out behind it, Astrid's dragon, Stormfly. It wasn't until the creature was soaring over the village that Hiccup let out the breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. Sitting upon Stormfly's back was a familiar, blonde girl.

"Astrid!" he yelled, waving his arms, "Over here!"

The dragon changed course and landed heavily next to him on the ledge. More rocks tumbled into the pasture below. Astrid threw herself over the side of her dragon and ran to Hiccup. She wrapped him in a tight hug before pulling back and looking at him in concern.

"Oh thank Thor you're all right. Trader Johann came by and said that the Outcasts had the island, and then as I was flying I didn't see anyone and the town was deserted, and I thought… oh gods, I thought everyone was dead!" she rushed out.

"They're not dead; Alvin has everyone on the other side of the island. I don't know where. Where are the others? I thought you would bring all the riders?" he asked worriedly.

"They're coming, they had to help the other islanders recover from the storm. I don't think they believed Trader Johann. Snotlout told everyone he was just a crazed old lunatic. I believed him though," she fumed.

She had been facing towards the sea, but as she said this she turned and looked back at Hiccup. She couldn't imagine what he had gone through. Toothless hadn't been well, so Hiccup had decided to stay on Berk and help run the island instead of go to the nearby island of Wepper which had recently been hit by a storm. The other riders had left to help. While they had been on Wepper, Trader Johann had come to port terrified and telling tales of Outcasts invading Berk. He had quickly collapsed. The others had dismissed him as crazy, but Astrid had felt certain something was wrong. Now that she was here, she knew she had been right.

She studied Hiccup. He had a long cut along the side of his face, and his vest was torn. He looked exhausted, and there was a haunted look in his eyes. As he shifted his weight, she noticed that he was favoring his metal foot over his real one. Suddenly she realized something else was missing.

"Hiccup, where's Toothless?" she asked.

"With the villagers. Someone needed to protect them, and I couldn't get to him in time. We couldn't fly away," he said sullenly.

"It's okay, we'll get him back!" she said, trying to cheer him up.

"Well, first we need a plan," he replied.

"You mean you don't have one already?" she asked in surprise.

Hiccup always had a plan, always. Astrid began to grow nervous, even more than she already was. A little voice in her head whispered that something was wrong with Hiccup. His eyes, as well as looking haunted, were slightly dazed and vacant.

"Astrid, I barely got away with my life, excuse me for not being quite on top of things. It's been a rough couple of days!" he muttered.

He turned and began to limp away from the ledge and towards the tree line. Astrid followed him in confusion; nothing was making sense. Stormfly ambled up behind her and gently nudged her with her snout, as if to say "It's okay." Astrid reached out and rubbed the beautiful dragon's neck as she slowly followed Hiccup into the forest.

"What happened here, girl?" she whispered.

They walked until they were far enough into the forest to be hidden, but close enough to the edge to see the sea. Once they reached this point, Hiccup turned abruptly and followed a makeshift path through the trees until they reached what looked to be a small camp. There was a blanket on the ground next to a smoldering campfire. Wood had been stacked off to the side, and an ax hung on a broken tree branch. A pot sat next to the fire, but there was no food or water or other supplies to be seen.

Hiccup took a step forward, spun around, and stretched his arms out wide. A goofy grin stretched across his face for a moment as he gestured to the small camp, but his eyes were still dull, the smile not quite reaching them.

"Welcome to Camp Hiccup! As you can see, we have all the comforts of home situated in a rustic outdoor setting. Ah, I believe this is your room, Miss," he joked, leading her to the blanket on the ground.

Astrid looked at the small camp in shock, but she couldn't hold back a small laugh at Hiccup's jokes. Astrid sat down on the dry pine needles that carpeted the forest floor next to the fire while Stormfly curled up next to her, exhausted from the long and strenuous flight. Hiccup rummaged around in the brush on the outskirts of the camp before coming back with a pack. The sun was beginning to sink below the horizon, and the shadows were growing darker and longer.

"Where was that?" Astrid asked in surprise as Hiccup dumped the pack unceremoniously on the ground.

"Around. I needed to keep it cool. Stormfly, could you light the fire please?" he replied, without really answering the question.

Stormfly quickly obliged, and soon a crackling fire was the only source of light and heat. As soon as darkness fell, the temperature had plummeted. Astrid watched Hiccup curiously as he began to bring various pieces of something out of the pack. The three packages were of different sizes, but all roughly the same shape and wrapped in cloth. Hiccup unwrapped them carefully, stuck two on some nearby sticks, and chucked the last at Stormfly, who gulped it down greedily. Hiccup walked unsteadily over to Astrid and handed her one of the newly made kabobs as he plopped down next to her. He immediately stretched his stick out into the fire. Astrid watched him and quickly followed suit. As the smell of the cooking stuff wafted towards her, her stomach grumbled. She smiled as she realized what was for dinner.

"Fish? How did you get fish?" she asked incredulously.

"I was picking some up for Toothless when the attack started. When my dad told me to run, I was still holding the pack, that Thor. Otherwise, I would have starved. I can't hunt, and the Outcasts raided the storehouse. There would have been nothing for me to eat," he explained shaking his head.

"Oh. So what exactly did happen?" she asked.

Stormfly shrieked, questioning Hiccup as well.

"Where to begin?" he asked himself as he looked at the flames.

Astrid shivered as the bone chilling cold began to set in. Hiccup broke out of his trance and immediately got up and grabbed the blanket. Walking back over to her, he draped it around her shoulders and sat down again. He gave her a weak smile.

"It gets cold up here, sorry," he said with a shrug.

"No, no it's okay. I'm fine. Are you cold?" she asked, studying him; something was definitely wrong.

"Nah, I'm used to it."

"But-"

"Used to it. Anyways, Outcasts, invasion. People taken captured," he said, changing the subject, "It was pretty much a normal day. Trader Johann had just arrived, and everyone was in that oh-my-gods-there's-new-stuff-from-far-away-for-me-to-buy frenzy. You know how it is."

"Yep," she chuckled.

"Well, anyways, the guards left their posts to come see Johann, and no one was really doing their job. Which was fine, I guess, I mean it happens every time something big happens, but then-" he broke off here with a wince and gave a loud cough before continuing, "then Bucket came flying down through the town at break neck speed yelling about ships on the horizon. Gobber went to calm him down, but he just wouldn't listen, so Gobber went up to the guard tower to show him that there were no ships. Except, there were ships, lots of them. Everyone started running and yelling and it was the kind of chaos I haven't seen since the dragons were attacking us."

Stormfly gave a loud humph and twitched her tail irritably at this.

"Sorry, since _we _attacked the dragons," amended Hiccup with an eye roll.

"Then what?" Astrid asked, worried that people were hurt because she hadn't been there to help protect them.

"Well, we managed to get slightly organized before they hit, but it was too late. Johann was out of here the moment the ships were sighted, by the way. When the Outcasts landed on the shore, there was a battle, and we were holding our own until they let loose two Nadder. They wreaked havoc, and as everyone fled, the Outcasts began herding them all into the Great Hall. No one stood a chance after that. Toothless was too far away for me to get to during all this; it only took an hour. Preparation, I had to help find weapons; battle, I fought; dragons, I tried to calm them. One knocked me with its tail, and I went flying. I hit a house and lost consciousness. When I came to, everyone was gone except for a few last stragglers. Dad was being escorted up to the Great Hall by Alvin himself. He saw me, and he told me to run. As soon as the troops were gone, I did. I grabbed a blanket off the ground, and old pot, I already had knives and the ax, and, of course, the fish. I've been hiding up here ever since."

Astrid sat in shock. Her fish had long since been removed from the fire, but it sat untouched in front of her as she tried to make sense of what she was hearing. Everyone was captured. Everyone she knew and loved was gone. She shuddered, and an overwhelming feeling of guilt settled over her. _I should have been here. I could've helped._ She thought bitterly.

"Did anyone else escape?" she asked, others had to have gotten away.

"I'm sure, but I haven't found them yet. I've looked. I haven't found them though. That's how I hurt my leg, fell out of a tree while searching," he said, shaking his head in embarrassment.

"You klutz. How long have you been out here?" she asked suddenly, reality finally beginning to set in.

"Three days," he said nonchalantly.

Astrid blanched. He'd been out here, on his own, with almost no food for three days. He didn't know if anyone was coming for help, or if the villagers were even still alive. She realized that he was staring at her in concern.

"Eat. You have to be hungry!" he urged, digging into his own fish.

She began to nibble on her kabob, but slowly. Her mind was far too cluttered with nervous thoughts about everyone who had been taken, but she was also worried about Hiccup. As she took another tentative bite of her fish, Hiccup broke into a coughing fit beside her. He smiled weakly at her when it had passed and kept eating like nothing had happened.

"Hiccup?"

"Ya?"

"What's wrong?"

"Um, I don't know, the whole island has been kidnapped by Outcasts, but that's pretty usual stuff," he replied giving her a bewildered look.

"No, what's wrong with you?" she urged.

"Nothing," he replied quickly with a small cough.

Astrid didn't buy it, but she let it go. She would figure it out. Soon the fire began to die down, and Hiccup fell asleep on the outskirts of the camp. Astrid stay awake, leaning against Stormfly and staring into the dying embers of the fire intently. Looking at Hiccup intently she let out a sigh.

"What's going on here?" she whispered to the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello lovely readers! I realize it's been a while, and I'm sorry for that. I've been pretty busy. I also had this chapter written and done when my friend accidentally deleted it while proof reading, so I had to re-write it. Thanks Will! Well, I'm going to work on faster updates and stuff now. If y'all have any suggestions or anything, feel free to tell me. Have a great day and enjoy the chapter!**

A creepy cackle echoed throughout the cavern hidden by dense brush, sending a chill through all those inside. The villagers of Berk were huddled at the far end of the cave, bruised, battered, and defeated. Their leader was standing strong in front of them, but even he had a sadness in his eyes. No one had escaped the ambush unscathed.

A hulking figure lumbered up to their leader, Stoic, and stood uncomfortably close to him. His putrid breath enveloped Stoic in a near visible haze, and his wild tangle of a beard threatened to intermingle with Stoic's own beard.

"Am I making you uncomfortable, old friend?" hissed the outcast.

Stoic didn't respond. He faced the outcast resolutely, refusing to let him see his anger or pain.

"What? No snarky comments for your nemesis?"

Again, there was no response from Stoic.

"We're a bit too old for the silent treatment, don't you think?" he growled lowly.

Silence.

"Argh! You will answer me when I talk to you! Unless, you want to watch your best friend die? You've already lost your son, Stoic, I don't think you want to lose Gobber too," he screeched in the way only a mad man can.

Stoic blinked back tears, and many villagers hung their heads behind him. Gobber shook his now hook-less hand at the outcasts as they dragged him in front of Stoic.

"Murderers! Every last one of you disgusting, dung-eating, Thor-cursed, sons of-"Gobber started angrily.

"That's enough, Gobber! I think Alvin here knows just what he's done. There's no point in making our situation worse," Stoic muttered.

"He speaks! And what does the fair chief have to say?" snarled Alvin.

His outcasts chuckled behind him, and the villagers of Berk glared back.

"I say that your quarrel is with me. Let my villagers go. I'll stay," Stoic responded coolly.

"Let me think about that. Outcasts, what say you?" he said, turning and raising his arms with a smirk.

"Never!" they responded loudly.

"Well, there ya have it," Alvin said, turning to face Stoic once more, "Your village is mine. Your people are mine. When the brats get back, the dragons are mine! Everything you had, is mine now. I'm practically the king! And do you know what the King wants? He wants you all to stay here!"

"That's ridiculous!" Stoic yelled angrily, shoving his pain to the side to help his village.

"Ya! What in Thor's name could keeping us here possibly do?" Gobber agreed.

"Bring the dragon brats running here of course. Then I'll have more than just one dragon trainer, and I'll be the most powerful man in the islands!" Alvin replied excitedly.

"They'll never find us, Alvin the idiot, if we're hidden here! There's no one left out there to point them in the direction of the cave!" Gobber yelled.

"He annoys me. Get rid of him," Alvin said casually.

"No! Gobber!" Stoic cried, rushing forward to help his friend.

A swarm of Outcasts rushed to restrain him, and Gobber was taken from the cave, shouting and cursing all the way. The Outcasts who had taken him out returned shortly afterwards and gave Alvin a curt nod.

"Let his mistake be a warning to you all! Make any move against me, and you will die!" he roared.

With that, Alvin stalked out of the cave, and his followers turned and left with him. Two guards were posted outside the cave, but otherwise the people of Berk were now left alone. Stoic rushed around the group taking a headcount, helping injured, giving advice, and trying desperately to keep morale up, though he himself wasn't even quite sure why he bothered. After a hectic hour of getting everyone settled, he walked over to an empty corner of the cave and sat down heavily. He took off his helmet and stared at it intently, falling deep into thought.

He tried to make sense of the day's events, but a single thought kept interrupting his efforts.

Hiccup was dead.

Stoic knew it. He knew that his son was dead with as much certainty as he knew eels repelled dragons. His son had tried his best to tame the crazy beast terrorizing the town, but it had cost him his life. He had seen it happen. Everyone had. Everyone had paused, if only for a moment, as the giant, crazed dragon threw the best dragon trainer in the archipelago into the wall. Everyone heard the _crack_, and everyone saw his head bend awkwardly to the side as he hit the ground and collapsed into a heap. Everyone realized what had happened when he didn't get back up.

Stoic had felt his world crumble around him as his only son and only family member left, died, and he was helpless to stop it. It all happened in less than an instant, but Alvin used that instant and disarmed Stoic, whom he had been fighting. With that, the battle was lost. Though the fighting continued for quite some time, the people of Berk knew it was in vain. They knew they had lost. One by one, the Outcasts began to herd the villagers towards a cave deep in the woods that they had scouted out before the ambush. They left Stoic for last, and as they marched him past the body of his son, he struggled to get to him, but the Outcasts kept him back.

They marched deep into the woods with no food or water. The villagers were hungry and exhausted by the time they reached the cave. Many were injured, and more Vikings were missing than Stoic cared to notice. His only solace had been Gobber, and now the Outcasts had taken him away, too. Stoic was truly on his own, and he wanted to cry. He wanted to scream that it wasn't fair and beg for Thor to smite all the outcasts and bring his son and Gobber back, but he couldn't. He had to stay strong for his village, because he was the only leader they had left.

Silently, slowly, Stoic began to think of a plan. A plan for rescue or escape, he wasn't sure yet, but it was a plan. He had to have a plan, because he was the only one who could possibly come up with one. He started to form a plan to drown out the loss, and as he sat there against the cold, dark cave wall, a plan came to him. More accurately, it ambled up to him good-naturedly and gave a little cough.

Stoic looked up and found himself staring into the large, green eyes of a night fury, and he grinned for the first time that miserable day.

"Hello, Toothless. Where have you been this whole time?"

Astrid woke up with a start, startling her dragon who screeched and jumped to her feet. Astrid turned to her left preparing to apologize to Hiccup for waking him up, but found herself looking at empty space. Hiccup wasn't at the camp. She jumped to her feet and shrugged off the blanket he had loaned her. She peered into the darkness surrounding the camp, but couldn't make out anything but the vague outline of trees. The fire had long since gone out, and only a few smoldering embers remained. Stormfly was stalking around the clearing sniffing the air.

"Hiccup? Hiccup! Where are you?" Astrid hissed into the darkness.

There was no response. Astrid turned to her dragon, who had returned to her side.

"Could you re-light the fire please, girl?" she asked gently, rubbing the dragon's neck.

Stormfly chuffed and immediately shot flames into the half-burnt logs left in the fire pit. The flames cast long shadows against the surrounding tree trunks, but also bathed the clearing in yellow-orange light. Astrid, who could see much better and farther now, walked cautiously to the edge of the clearing and looked through the trees.

"Hiccup?" she called again, but again she received no answer.

She repressed a shudder, but couldn't help the goose bumps that sprang up on her body, or the chill that ran down her spine.

_There's no reason to be scared. I am a Viking for Thor's sake; I eat scary for breakfast!_ She chided herself.

However, she stood a bit closer to Stormfly. There was safety in numbers.

"Hiccup! This isn't funny anymore! Come out!" she yelled loudly.

Suddenly, a loud thud sounded from the forest, followed by two more. Loud, echoing footsteps reverberated through the forest, and they sounded like they were coming towards the camp. Astrid drew her sword and stood next to Stormfly. She braced herself for a fight against the Outcasts, rogue dragons, wolves, or anything else that might throw itself at her. Stormfly growled menacingly, and the pair began to walk around the campfire checking the surroundings. A _whoosh _sounded from the far side of the camp, and Astrid whipped around to face it, but another _whoosh _sounded near her. Another came from another side. Astrid and Stormfly were turning in circles, sword and tail spears out in utter terror.

Astrid ran the things she knew through her head in an effort to stay calm. She knew three things:

She and Stormfly were surrounded

It was almost morning

_Hiccup was missing._

Considering she had nothing left to lose, Astrid called out to Hiccup one last time.

"Hiccup! Come back, or so help me I will pound you into a pulp!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, still circling the open flame.

Suddenly, everything was silent. No movement or noises came from the trees, and Stormfly suddenly stopped in her tracks. Astrid, who was still turning, slammed into her dragon's side and spun ungracefully around in an effort to stay on her feet.

"What is it girl?" she asked the now- unmoving dragon.

Stormfly snorted in response and tossed her head in the direction of the path they had used to enter the camp. Astrid followed her dragon's gaze and faced the entrance to the camp. Her eyes widened in surprise, confusion, and anger as she stared at the unexpected visitors in front of her. After a long stare down, one of the visitors stepped forward.

"Hey Astrid. We heard there was trouble, but we didn't think you'd let it get this bad. Guess it was just a job for a strong, able man, such as myself," he said cockily.

"I'm going to _kill _you!" was her only response.

"Take it easy, babe, we're here to help!" he chuckled.

"Don't call me that. Give me one good reason not to kick your butt from here to the next island, Snotlout," she hissed through clenched teeth.

"Because, I'm the only card you've got left," Snotlout replied, puffing out his chest ridiculously.

_Great. Hiccup's missing and I have to deal with Snotlout, the twins, and Fishlegs on my own. It's not even 6am yet._

Two people ran through the forest quickly. One was tall and cloaked, and it appeared to be chasing the smaller, limping figure. Eventually they found themselves out of the woods and on top of one of Berk's many cliffs. They both drew to a halt. The sun began to peak over the horizon, and the mop of brown hair and the metal foot of the smaller figure could just be made out in the early morning light. The taller figure was still cloaked in shadow despite the rising sun.

"You can't run from me forever," the taller figure intoned slowly, in a voice made weary by time and hard work.

"I can try," came the smaller figure's brave response.

"You must come now," the figure insisted, but more gently this time.

"I need more time! I can make this right!" the smaller person urged.

"You have two days. After that, you must leave," it said slowly before dissipating into the air leaving no trace that it had ever been there.

"What am I going to do? What am I going to tell them?" the person, a boy, asked himself as he turned back to head into the forest.

The fate of the island and everyone he cared about rested on his shoulders, and he only had two days to save them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello lovely readers! Thanks for all the awesome reviews last chapter, y'all rock! I'm heading to camp at the end of this week, and while I will have my laptop I doubt I'll get much writing done. I'll try and get some done, but it's a Duke TIP camp, and I'll have lots of studying to do. As always, I will take idea requests and seriously enjoy a review. Sorry this is short, I'm just trying to get in before I leave. :) Have an awesome day and enjoy the chapter!**

"Snotlout! You absolute idiot, why didn't you come sooner? Scratch that, why are you even here? You told everyone that Johan was just a crazy old man, so why are you here?" Astrid yelled angrily.

Fishlegs stepped out tentatively from behind the safety of Snotlout's dragon. He looked down at his feet and wrung his pudgy hands nervously. He began to mumble unintelligibly towards the ground, all the while shuffling his feet.

"What? I can't hear you, Fishlegs," Astrid said more calmly, but the frustration was still evident in her voice.

"I said…..." Fishlegs began again, but he quickly trailed off into mumbles again.

"Fishlegs!" Astrid urged in exasperation while Snotlout looked on laughing.

Roughnut and Toughnut were too busy chasing each other around the camp with sticks to be of much use, and Snotlout wasn't going to tell Astrid anything, his pride wouldn't let him. A true Viking never backs down, at least that was Snotlout's idiotic idea.

"Sorry, Astrid. Snotlout didn't decide to come; the leader of Wepper told us we weren't needed anymore. We were coming home, but we flew over the village and realized that Johan had been right. We started looking around, and found a trail. Then we were here," Fishlegs explained slowly.

"Did you see Hiccup on your way in?" Astrid asked, deciding to ignore her rising frustration with the four dragon riders.

"Hiccup's here?" came Snotlout's annoyed voice from the campfire.

"Yes, but I can't find him. He was here earlier."

"Just follow the dragon tracks, I bet Toothless followed him wherever he went," Fishlegs pointed out.

"Toothless isn't with Hiccup. He's with the villagers. Hiccup had been living up here on his own until I showed up," Astrid replied coolly.

"Oh," Snotlout said abashedly.

"Shut up, Snotlout," Astrid growled.

"Um, Astrid, where are all the people from the village?" Roughnut piped up as Toughnut hit her with a stick.

"Yeah, they're all, like, not in the village! Ouch!" agreed Toughnut, as Roughnut shoved him.

They started to push each other back and forth, and they began to teeter perilously close to the fire. Snotlout laughed and egged them on while Astrid tried to shout over the chaos to answer the question. She gave up and threw her hands in the air.

"Ugh! Why do I even bother?" she grumbled, "C'mon, Fishlegs, let's go get some food."

The two turned to walk into the woods, but as they did a familiar voice stopped them.

"No need to, I've got plenty right here."

Every single head in the campsite turned to face the newcomer. Dragons squawked and jumped to attention in surprise.

"Hiccup! Where the heck were you?" Astrid cried, flying at him.

She wrapped him in a tight hug, but then quickly pulled away from him and punched his arm.

"That was for scaring me," she said, but it was evident that she was relieved that he was safe.

"Sorry. I was just going to find some more food; I couldn't sleep. When did you guys get here?" he asked, looking at the rest of the dragon riders in surprise.

"Not that long ago. Wepper didn't need us anymore so we thought we'd come home," Fishlegs explained.

"So, Hiccup, what's the plan here? I mean, I could always come up with a plan," Snotlout asked with a smirk.

"No, I was thinking while I was out. I think I have a plan now," Hiccup replied with an equally proud smirk.

"Plan for what?" asked Toughnut and Roughnut together.

"For saving everyone and stopping Alvin," Fishlegs explained.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh," the twins said, nodding then going back to punching each other.

"So what are you thinking?" Astrid asked.

"Well…,"

…

"Stoic! Psst, Stoic! Wake up, Alvin's back!"

"Huh, wait what? Where am I? Alvin?" came the disgruntled response from the enormous half-asleep man.

"Stoic! Wake up!" insisted the woman sitting next to him, glancing nervously towards the entrance of the cave where the outcasts looming figures were loitering.

"Huh?" Stoic said intelligently as he sat up.

Blinking blearily, Stoic looked at his surroundings in confusion. The crowded, damp cave was unfamiliar, and Toothless was curled up tightly by his side. He searched the crowd for his son, but he didn't see him anywhere. The woman next to him looked at him sadly and watched as the slow realization and memories from the day before returned to her chief. His whole face seemed to age before her, and he hung his head for a moment before picking it up and staring at the front of the cave with a steely gaze.

"Thanks, Helga," he murmured to the woman next to him.

"No problem, Stoic," she replied, picking herself up to wake up the other villagers.

Groggily, Stoic heaved himself to his feet. Toothless immediately jumped to attention next to him and holding his head high focused his intense green gaze on Alvin. The pair watched the man lumber back and forth outside the cave before looking at each other and giving almost imperceptible nods. Quickly afterwards they began to walk towards the entrance of the cave while the villagers of Berk looked on in confusion and surprise. Stoic beckoned for them all to follow him, and the villagers began to rise around him, some clutching loose rocks and stones with jagged edges as crude weapons. As one, the village surged towards the front of the mouth of the cave as Stoic and Toothless led the way. With a mighty roar Stoic broke into a run, and the Vikings followed suit. The Outcasts turned and stared in absolute shock as the villagers charged them, and as it was still early in the morning, it took the already disorganized Outcasts even more time than usual to ready themselves for battle, but by then it was too late.

The villagers were out of the cave, and punching, fighting, bludgeoning, and commandeering weapons with a vengeance while Toothless shot plasma blasts into the throng at Outcasts, taking them out at least two at a time.

It was total chaos.

Stoic had found Alvin and a sword somewhere along the way and the two former friends were facing each other with disdain and hate evident in each of their faces. Stoic had been willing to forgive Alvin for his deeds until he had killed his son. Any shred of mercy he had left in him had left with Hiccup, and the man standing before Alvin would have sent even the bravest of men packing. However, Alvin was stupid and deranged rather than brave so he held his ground and warped his face in what passed as a grin.

"So, Stoic, is this what you were brewing up last night? You won't win, ya know. I will. This island is mine now, so don't even bother," he laughed.

"Keep dreaming," Stoic growled, lunging forward with his sword.

"I mean, why even bother? You have nothing to go back to anyways," taunted Alvin, deflecting Stoics swords and countering with a jab of his own.

"I have the village. They need me, but you know what they don't need?" huffed Stoic with a swipe of his sword.

"Do tell," quipped Alvin, sidestepping.

"You!" growled Stoic, finally succeeding in landing a glancing blow.

However, it was he needed, and as Alvin stared in surprise at the gash in his arm, Stoic lunged at him and pinned him against a nearby tree, knocking the sword from his hand. Murder was in his eyes, but staring at Alvin's crazed, equally murderous gaze snapped Stoic out of his trance. While keeping Alvin pinned to the tree, he stared hard at him.

"Get off my island. Call off your troops and I won't kill you."

Alvin could do nothing but nod and ran off all the while hollering for the Outcasts to follow him out to the ships. The villagers cheered around Stoic and walked back to Berk to clean it up and celebrate their victory. Stoic had just started to enter the village when-

"Stoic! Stoic! Wake up, please, Alvin's calling for you!" a desperate, pleading voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

He'd already woken up. Who was talking to him?

"Stoic!" growled a familiar, crazed voice.

"I kicked you off my island, now go away!" replied Stoic to the phantom Alvin.

"Stoic! Get up you lazy dog," insisted Alvin, but this time the voice was accompanied by an intense pain in his side almost as if someone had kicked him.

His eyes flew open, and the dream began to fade. Stoic groaned as he was greeted by reality. A reality where he wasn't the strong but broken leader, he was just broken. He wasn't leading his tribe out of captivity, he was part of the reason they were here. This was the reality where sweaty, stupid, smelly Alvin was still on his island, not off it. It had been two days without food or water now and it was clearly taking its toll on Stoic and all the villagers.

"Your village is getting water. I'm sending around a bucket. Enjoy, dog," laughed Alvin, "Those dragon rider brats will be back soon. I just have to keep you alive until then."


	4. message

Hey y'all! I don't like where this story is going, and to be honest I just don't feel like finishing it. I'm sorry. I just can't write this anymore; I don't like where I've put myself and while I could re-write it, I don't think it would turn out right. I just lost my muse and ideas for this. It's up for adoption if anyone wants it. If y'all really want me to keep writing, I will, but until then this is **officially on hiatus. **

I may write something else. PM or comment with ideas or suggestions. Poll is reopening on my profile.

Have a great day and a fantastic summer!

XOXO,

myscout


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